Tad Shull

Thomas Barclay "Tad" Shull, Jr. (born October 15, 1955 in Norwalk , Connecticut ) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist , flautist, arranger, composer and author.

Live and act

Tad Shull grew up in Westport ; He began playing the saxophone while at Westport Public School and performed in a swing band when he was 13 and in blues and rock 'n' roll bands when he was 15 . In Westport he studied jazz piano and improvisation with John Mehegan in 1970/71 , saxophone and jazz improvisation with David Liebman (1971–73) when he was 16, and improvisation with Richard Beirach (1973-4) when he was 18 . He then attended the New England Conservatory , where he worked with Gunther Schuller and Jaki Byard . In 1978 Shull moved to New York and worked in midtown swing clubs like Jimmy Ryan's and Eddie Condon's . Shull got to know musicians like Roy Eldridge , Jimmy Rowles , Eddie Locke and Bobby Pratt , who were still active as swing and mainstream jazz veterans. 1981/82 Shull played in the Smithsonian Jazz Repertory Ensemble of Bob Wilber , from which he also received clarinet lessons. Shortly thereafter he became a member of the Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra , with which he toured numerous times in the late 1980s. Until 1997 Shull worked with the formation.

In 1990 Shull began playing with his own formations; here worked u. a. pianists Mike LeDonne and Ray Gallon , bassist Dennis Irwin and drummer Kenny Washington . He also played with Dizzy Gillespie , Milt Jackson , Joe Williams , Cab Calloway and Woody Herman . In 2002 he took part in various tribute events in honor of Billy Strayhorn at the Lincoln Center and played lesser-known pieces by the composer. He is currently (2019) leading a quartet that includes Rob Schneiderman (piano), Paul Gill (bass) and Joe Strasser (drums).

Shull also studied political science at Columbia University ; since then he has published on politics, music and culture. He also works as a marketing consultant and also at the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University.

Shull's tenor saxophone playing combines influences from Coleman Hawkins , Don Byas , Lucky Thompson , Eddie Lockjaw Davis , Johnny Griffin, and Sonny Rollins .

Discographic notes

As a leader

• Deep Passion (Criss Cross, 1990)
• In the Land of the Tenor (Criss Cross, 1993)
• Tenor Triangle (1993)
• Tell It Like It Is (1993), with Ralph Lalama and Eric Alexander
• Aztec Blues (1994)
• Two Tenor Ballads (1995) (with Mark Turner)

As a sideman

• Widespread Depression Jazz Orchestra: Swing is the Thing (1983), Paris Blues (1985)
• Jordan Sandke: Rhythm is Our Business (1985)

Publications

• Redefining Red and Green: Ideology and Strategy in European Political Ecology . State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, 1999.
• When Backward Comes Out Ahead: Lucky Thompson's Phrasing and Improvisation . In: Annual Review of Jazz Studies . 12, 2003.

literature

• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .

Web links

• Biography at jazz.com
• Portrait at Smalls